Posted on 05/03/2013 04:08
Andre Kostelanetz did a nice instrumental cover of Sinatra's "Summer Wind". It's available on this twofer CD:
Posted on 12/21/2012 04:30
Just a heads-up: the Music Choice "Easy Listening" channel has finally gone all-Christmas, so there's another option for instrumental lovers.
Posted on 12/17/2012 08:31
Not only hasn't
Swing Bells ever made it to CD, but as far as I know, only *one* individual song from the album has made it to CD. Astonishing, really, considering Columbia/Sony's penchant for recycling tracks from its older catalog artists into various-artists compilations.
The one song is their version of "Deck the Halls", which appears on one such compilation, a hard-to-find 1996 release called A Really Swell Christmas:
Posted on 12/17/2012 08:18
johnnyelectron, was it Ted Strasser's "Patterns in Music" show that would feature that song every Thanksgiving on WJR? I remember how my grandmother loved that program.
Posted on 12/02/2012 01:45
Here's a nice station I've found for that vintage "easy Christmas instrumental" sound:
Posted on 11/26/2012 05:59
Dylan's rendition of "Must Be Santa" is heavily influenced by an early '90s recording of the tune from a Texas-based "polka rock" band called Brave Combo. Their version can also be heard on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANp-PCflWEc
Posted on 11/24/2012 22:26
I've always been partial to the version of "Rudolph" that starts off with the intro from the Beatles' "I Feel Fine".
Posted on 11/21/2012 01:07
How 'bout this one? One of my favorite EZ instrumental hits:
Posted on 11/18/2012 05:27
Another classic Christmas LP featuring cover art by Mr. (or is it Ms.?) Speiser:
Posted on 11/17/2012 03:55
Hoping against hope that Antenna TV gives us the *complete* four-hour program, with no screwups like last year.
Posted on 11/17/2012 03:40
jinglero,
The Percy Faith cover was done by Sandy Speiser. The only other album cover I can find credited to Bert Groedel is Surprises, a non-Christmas 1976 release by jazz flautist Herbie Mann.
Posted on 11/17/2012 03:28
Sarah Vaughan's 1989 Christmas album with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, recorded as an exclusive release for Hallmark Cards stores:
She also recorded a 1963 album called Snowbound, which from the title *sounds* like it ought to be a Christmas album (or at the very least a winter-themed one a la Jo Stafford's Ski Trails), but sadly isn't. The title song does sort of work as a seasonal offering, however, and can be found on a great little Christmas compilation CD from the Shout! Factory label:
Posted on 08/12/2012 01:11
I notice that in recent years a few artists have recorded "What a Wonderful World" (the Louis Armstrong song, not he Sam Cooke one) for their Christmas albums. LeAnn Rimes is one example. I seem to recall hearing Satchmo's version on XM's Holiday Traditions channel as well.
Posted on 08/03/2012 22:49
"My Favorite Things" is the Christmas-song-that-really-isn't-a-Christmas-song that's always left me scratching my head. Great song, from a great musical, but how on Earth did it ever come to be regarded as a holiday tune?
Posted on 06/10/2012 22:02
I've always loved the "ornament" covers of Kostelanetz's
Wonderland of Christmas and Faith's
Christmas Is.
Posted on 05/19/2012 22:15
This is, indeed, a "good news/bad news" type of release. It will be awfully nice to have
Hallelujah! back in print again, though.
What I was *really* hoping for was a
Complete Christmas Recordings set for Mr. Faith, along the lines of what they did with Perry Como on Collectors Choice two years ago. You could easily fill two (or possibly even three) CDs with the following:
"Christmas in Killarney" (single A-side, 1950)
"Christmas in My Heart" (single A-side, 1950)
"Sleigh Ride" (single B-side, 1950)
"Brazilian Sleigh Bells" (single B-side, 1950)
Music of Christmas mono LP (1954)
"Toyland" and "March of the Toys" (from
The Columbia Album of Victor Herbert LP, 1958)
Hallelujah! LP (1958)
Music of Christmas stereo LP (1959)
"My Favorite Things" (from
The Sound of Music LP, 1960)
"Be a Santa" (from
Subways Are for Sleeping LP, 1961)
"Brazilian Sleigh Bells" (stereo version from
Carefree LP, 1961)
"Judy (Christmas Is)" (from
More Themes for Young Lovers, 1964)
Christmas Is... LP (1966)
"Soleado (When a Child Is Born)" (from
Summer Place '76, 1976)
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